Guide to Cruises Out of Galveston

Table Of Content

• Toyota 4Runner Is The Tacoma Of SUVs And It’s Coming For The Bronco
• NEW! Newswire Corner!
• KXAN Daily Forecast Newsletter
• Cruise halts driverless car operations in Austin as company aims to 'rebuild public trust'
• SixThreeZero Electric Rickshaw review: This fun e-bike can carry an entire family!
• MSC Cruises

This isn't the first time that Cruise vehicles have drawn the ire of untrusting residents. Back in January, a driverless car was observed turning into a bike lane. And during another incident, cars were observed treating small residential neighborhoods as throughways. While legal, it caused an unnecessary nuisance to residents who told KXAN that they'd seen as many as 25 cars in a 20-minute span. In essence, while the recent Austin traffic snarl involving Cruise’s robotaxis was a minor hiccup for some commuters, it underscores the complexities of integrating autonomous vehicles into bustling urban landscapes.

Toyota 4Runner Is The Tacoma Of SUVs And It’s Coming For The Bronco

Highlights include kids’ pools, Broadway-caliber musicals, a Marvel Superhero Academy, and a range of eating options. Come ready and raring for Texas-sized Gulf Coast adventure with cruises to Mexico and the Western Caribbean with a Royal Caribbean cruise from Galveston Island. Under a separate state law, passed in 2021, political subdivisions of the state, such as cities, are also forbidden from regulating automated driving systems or automated motor systems. "We've since had some dialog with that company, and they've supposedly fixed it," Austin Fire Battalion Chief Matthew Holmes told a panel of City Council members Friday.

NEW! Newswire Corner!

It was a crowded, challenging environment; and, there was no pedestrian, vehicle or property damage. To truly grasp the traffic situation, you need to check out the full video from Reddit user u/analkaos posted to r/damnthatsinteresting yesterday. The 48-second clip shows gridlocked traffic on a narrow Austin street dominated by Cruise EVs.

KXAN Daily Forecast Newsletter

Prada is a civil engineering student, specializing in transportation. He isn’t against driverless cars but is not comfortable with them in such a busy area of Austin. While we don’t agree with the tampering of robotaxis, it’s not unfair to say that the nascent technology has room for improvement, and some feel that urban municipalities should not be used as a testing ground. Regardless, companies like Cruise have come a long way, expanding beyond the Bay Area into new cities throughout California and outside of The Golden State in Austin, Texas. The cars have also gotten stuck in crosswalks, at green lights, in intersections, and even played chicken with other Cruise vehicles.

Cruise halts driverless car operations in Austin as company aims to 'rebuild public trust'

Qadri called both incidents "a mess" and expressed plans to voice his safety concerns at the next mobility council meeting. About 20 Cruise-operated Chevrolet Bolts were seen stuck up and down San Gabriel Street late Saturday night. Some had shifted into the oncoming side of the two-lane street, even forcing a pair of Cruise cars to face one another in some sort of autonomous stand-off, blocking traffic even further.

As you can see in the video, one of the Cruise vehicles got stuck in an intersection while committing to a turn, thus further congesting traffic in three different directions. "And the fact that it's in a testing phase but there's not the safeguard of a human in the front concerns me." In response to the incident, Cruise issued a statement emphasizing their unwavering commitment to safety.

The California-based autonomous vehicle company is temporarily ramping down all operations of its vehicles on public roads, including vehicles that had human drivers supervising. “It’s important for autonomous vehicle companies to realize that these driverless cars can be dangerous and that our public roads should not be a test playground," Ellis said. "We should not be treated like guinea pigs." Self-driving car company Cruise has halted driverless car operations nationwide, including in Austin, in an effort to rebuild public trust around the technology.

Robotaxi

The company, which announced the latest change in a blog post Tuesday, said it plans to operate its vehicles in closed-course training environments and simulation programs during the pause. In one incident, a pedestrian was struck by a Cruise vehicle after being hit by a human-driven vehicle in an adjacent lane. Cruise said its vehicle “braked aggressively” to dampen the impact.

Cruise driverless cars cause traffic jam in West Campus neighborhood - KXAN.com

Cruise driverless cars cause traffic jam in West Campus neighborhood.

Posted: Fri, 22 Sep 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The reason, according to Cruise, is that its cars are limited to traveling at 25 mph, so its routes are limited to specific roads—like those in residential neighborhoods. “There will be situations where the vehicle will experience something where it’s uncertain of what to do next. So when it doesn’t know what to do, it will default to its safest action, which is pulling over,” he said. Disney Cruises bring every child’s imagination to life and provide an opportunity for the entire family to reconnect and unplug from the chaos of everyday life.

There’s a bunch of drunk college students out, you know,” said Nico Prada. "At the end of the day, we're not perfect," said Michael Staples, Cruise's General Manager for the Austin region, to KXAN. "There will be situations where the vehicle will experience something where it's uncertain of what to do next. So when it doesn't know what to do, it will default to its safest action, which is pulling over."

Residents in Austin, Texas are fed up with Cruise-induced traffic jams—just like Californians. Despite these challenges, companies like Cruise have made remarkable strides in expanding their fleets beyond their Silicon Valley origins, with Austin, Texas, being one of their recent ventures. However, this expansion has not been without its teething problems, as evidenced by the recent traffic snarl in Austin. The DMV’s dispute with the company relates to an Oct. 2 hit and run incident, after which the DMV accused Cruise of withholding information about. Qadri, along with Council Members Paige Ellis and Vanessa Fuentes, received a briefing on self-driving vehicle activity Friday afternoon during the committee meeting.

Qadri is working with fellow council members to address the issues in the Austin Mobility Committee next month. One of many recent posts that caught the attention of Austin City Council Member Zo Qadri. “From a pedestrian in West Campus, they’re not great to interact with. But I mean, I’m sure at some point, the technology will get there,” said Prada. We fully recognize the inconvenience, and we’ve taken proactive measures to relieve the crowding in the area.

They acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the congestion and laid out their plans to expand the Operational Design Domain (ODD) to reduce vehicle density in high-demand areas and enhance service quality. The city was also previously being used by Ford and Argo AI to test self-driving technology including rideshare and delivery services, before Argo AI shut down last year. The California-based company, which is a subsidiary of General Motors, announced the change Thursday evening in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The announcement came just two days after the company paused services in California after the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended the company’s testing and deployment permits. "The industry's going to have to do a lot more diligence to get us to a place where these vehicles can safely operate," said Council Member Zo Qadri, whose downtown district has been a hot spot for Cruise complaints.

The bill also set minimum safety standards for self-driving cars operating in Texas. The legislation, Senate Bill 2205, was celebrated by General Motors at the time. In 2017, the Texas Legislature passed a law preventing local officials from making their own rules like requiring companies to register or pay fees. But first responders were increasingly alarmed at the behavior of the driverless vehicles, records obtained under the Texas Public Information Act show. "We do have a lot of interest in Austin," Rachel Castignoli, a city official monitoring autonomous vehicle companies, said of competing firms. Cruise has also been the subject of a federal probe from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration examining if the self-driving vehicles are using appropriate precautions around pedestrians.

Dozens of Cruise vehicles stopped in a street in West Campus and blocked traffic. Videos shared on social media show the fully autonomous vehicles lining the street late at night, some with their hazard lights flashing and others trying to maneuver around each other. Some of the vehicles were even positioned on the wrong side of the road.